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Maya de Vitry’s single is “nineties women of country” good.
“Down in Georgia”
Josh Turner
Written by Tyler Booth, Anthony Olympia, and Brent Rupard
Jonathan Keefe: Country music is at its best when it embraces an actual diversity of sounds and perspectives, and that means there should always be room for a dogged traditionalist like Josh Turner. If not the best vocalist of his generation– his control over his lower register has actually improved over the years– he’s always been one of the most distinctive. He dives deep into his bass range on “Down in Georgia,” and hallelujah, y’all.
That the single is the least square uptempo of his career is a welcome surprise: There’s a sense of fun to this record that doesn’t scan as quaint or demure. When he sings about getting down in Georgia, it doesn’t necessarily sound like he’s getting DTF, but there’s a sly randiness to his delivery that’s a change from Turner’s trademark tone.
The song itself is fine. He’ll never top “Long Black Train,” and this doesn’t belong in that conversation in form or content. But as a potential return to radio for someone who should’ve been a bigger star? It’ll do, and those low notes will sure rattle some speakers. A-
Kevin John Coyne: This is my favorite Josh Turner single in years, probably since “Another Try,” and this couldn’t be any further from that song in terms of content and tone.
It’s remarkable that he’s never really leaned into the bass of his voice on a PG-13 record, and it works exceedingly well. He could make a play for the modern day Twitty slot if he wanted to.
Turner’s found a way to update his sound for 2024 country radio without compromising his signature traditional sound, and I hope it pays off. I’ll certainly be playing it for the rest of the year. A
“Whiskey Blues”
Tanner Adell
Written by Tanner Adell, Akil “worldwidefresh” King, Stephen McGregor, Will Weatherly, and Anthony Germaine White
KJC: “Whiskey Blues” is equal parts from R&B, country, and pop, and the alchemy works for me.
I love Adell’s phrasing on this record, like she’s singing in bold, underline, and italics as needed. The groove is great and she surfs it like a champ.
The lyrics aren’t quite as clever and distinctive as they’re intended to be – or like the singing and the production here are – but this one keeps growing on me with repeated listens. A total earworm. B
JK: One of the frequent criticisms levied by self-appointed gatekeepers is that the country singles offered by WOC aren’t aligned with what’s on-trend at radio. Is that true of singles by, say, Miko Marks and Amythyst Kiah? Sure. But it’s a refusal to acknowledge the reality of what artists like Tiera Kennedy, SACHA, Reyna Roberts, and Tanner Adell have recorded. And we all know exactly why that’s the case.
Take Adell’s “Whiskey Blues.” If a white woman released this exact single, it would get one of those iHeart OnTheVerge radio promo deals, and it would peak no lower than the top 20.
For better or worse, though, that means that “Whiskey Blues” suffers from many of the same problems as most of what’s been dominating country radio for the last few years. Lyrically, it’s just too shallow to invoke any kind of blues in a convincing way, and Adell’s vocals are just too processed and polished to sell this particular story of hard living.
There are some clever internal rhymes here, and, to be clear, Adell is a very good vocalist. She’s just not well-served by this specific song or production, which barely clears the Wallen bar. “Cowboy Break My Heart” is a better representation of why she should be a massive star. C+
“Odds of Getting Even”
Maya de Vitry
Written by Caitlin Canty and Maya de Vitry
JK: It’s been ages since I’ve heard a song with this kind of on-the-verge narrative that sounds so propulsive. De Vitry wastes no time digging into her story of cutting her losses and getting the hell out of town, and she’s got a thundering drumline to drive her ever forward.
“It’s too late in the evening / To play the odds of getting even” is such a wondrous couplet to build a song around, and de Vitry makes sure that her delivery lands with a mix of regret and indignance. Her clear vocal tone heightens the sense of confidence throughout this record: She sings with a self-assurance that she’s made the right decision to leave a situation that’s long since run its course.
A lifetime ago, the country genre was full of these kinds of singles on which women declared a real sense of agency and did so with smartly-written and powerfully-sung lines. De Vitry’s single is a throwback to those days. It’s perhaps the highest praise I can think of that this sounds a lot like a Patty Griffin track that The Chicks would cover. A
KJC: “Odds of Getting Even” evoked memories of early Kim Richey for me.
It has that jangly roots sound combined with a haunting vocal and picturesque lyrics. As noted by Jonathan, the production is perfectly aligned with the lyric, giving us a heads up on how those odds are shaking out as the record progresses.
I could hear the Chicks doing this for sure, and I wouldn’t mind hearing Richey herself taking a pass at it, either. This is nineties women of country good, and it doesn’t get any better than that. A
“Maxed Out”
Bayker Blankenship
Written by Bayker Blankenship and Trevor Daniels
KJC: Here’s a young man who has learned all of the right lessons from the DIY Appalachian singer-songwriter moment.
He builds an entire song around a handful of really great lines, and while there’s a bit of filler surrounding them, the potential is clearly there: “Jack and Coke won’t let me think for myself/
Should have never reached for that bottle on the shelf.” A great line paired with one that rhymes a hair too perfectly.
His voice reminds me a bit of Joshua Ray Walker, an indication that he can emote with the best of them. This is showing signs of being a breakout hit, so maybe we’ll get to hear at least one voice like this on the radio. B+
JK: Well, damn. This is a Zach Bryan record if Zach Bryan could sing on key consistently.
Blankenship’s mope on “Maxed Out” is so exquisitely drawn, and I was struck by the specificity of how this narrator sings of how the people he’s wronged are actively rooting for his failure. That cuts deep and is an interesting contrast to the Main Character Syndrome that’s so prevalent in Gen Z songwriting. This guy’s got some real chops. A bit more variety to the production, and he could end up the most compelling of the acts on this increasingly crowded axis. A-
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